AS FAST as the stevedores could unload the rock salt, the waiting council lorries from virtually every part of Ireland sped off with the precious substance.

The desperately needed shipment arrived in Cork Port yesterday morning aboard the MV Blue Bay -- 3,500 tonnes of precious road salt that had been rushed in from Spain. A further two shipments are due over the coming days.

The importer -- Irish International Trading Corporation -- said it could have sold the shipment four times over, such was the frantic demand from local authorities across Ireland.

Some councils were down to their last batches of salt.

Environment Minister John Gormley has ordered local authorities to co-operate with one another to ensure that rock salt goes to those areas where supplies are now critically low.

The company is expecting a further shipment of 5,000-tonnes in the coming days, bringing the quantity of salt it has imported since the crisis began to almost 17,000 tonnes.

The Government and the NRA are hoping that at least two further shipments will be brought into ports in Dublin and Limerick later this week and further supplies are also being sourced from a quarry in Northern Ireland.